Supporting structure for infant&#39;s bathing device



Nov. 11, 1958 D. M. KENNEDY SUPPORTING smuc'ruaa FOR INFANTS BATHINGDEVICE Filed March 27, 1956 W S Re mm mm mm m .n m WW I AA Wm WW6 m ily.

United States ,Patefi f SUPPORTING STRUCTURE FOR INFANTS BATHING DEVICEDewey M. Kennedy, Rochester, N. Y. Application March 27, 1956, SerialNo. 574,310

. 1 Claim. (Cl. 311-83) This invention relates to infants bathingdevices of the type having a frame including two pairs of foldablecrosslegs with interconnecting longitudinal rails supporting a flexibletub, a dressing table arranged to assume an operative position overlyingthe tub and an inoperative up right position at the rear of the tub, anda shelf pivotally connected to the frame beneath the tub, and has forits object the provision of certain improvements in such bathingdevices. More particularly, my invention provides improvements in theconstruction and arrangement of the cross-legs and in the supportingmeans for the shelf.

The improved infants device of the invention has crosslegs formed in twoparts, the lower parts being pivotally connected together and the upperparts being removably connected to the lower parts at a place above thepivotal connection, the lower parts being connected together and havinga shelf mounted on the pivotal connection, and the upper parts beingconnected together by longitudinal rails which support a flexible tub.

In a preferred embodiment of my invention I provide a frame formed oftubular metal members in which the upper parts of the legs are integralwith the rear and front longitudinal rails, and the lower parts of thefront legs are preferably integral with a lower front rail. Oneimportant feature of the invention is that the cross-legs are detachableat a position above their axes so that when the legs are disconnectedthey form two half parts which are each about one-half the height of thedevice. The upper parts of the legs are telescopically connected to thelower parts of the legs and the lower parts of the legs may be connectedtogether with pivot pins which form the axes on which the cross-legs canbe opened when the device is to be used or closed when the device is tobe stored or shipped. The legs may also be connected with a suitablecatch which holds the upper parts of the legs to the lower parts.

The usual bathing devices require a package of con siderable volumewhich is reduced at least one-half in volume for packaging the bathingdevices of the invention. This material reduction in the size of thepackage gives important advantages and these are reflected in the costof the package, the cost of shipping, the cost of warehouse storage, andthe cost of delivery to the customer. All of the parts of the completebathing device on both the upper and lower leg parts are assembled orattached at the factory, and the purchaser does not have to assemblemore than the upper and lower parts.

One important feature of the invention is that the upper parts of thelegs, being disconnectable above the pivotal axes, are held together bythe integral longitudinal rails and, therefore, the entire upperstructure of the device including the tub and table is held together.Also the lower parts of the legs are connected together by the axis pinsand are held in proper spaced relation by the lower front rail. Oneother important feature of the invention is that the lower parts of thecross-legs can be connected together with short bolts which secure theleg parts 2,860,022 Patented Nov. 11, 1958 2 together and also provide apivotal support for the shelf.

These and other novel features of the invention will be betterunderstood after considering the following discussion taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an infants bathing device embodying myinvention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view at 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view at 3-3 of Fig. l, v

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 with parts removed, and

Fig. 5 illustrates a modification of leg connecting'means.

The infants bathing device illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises two pairs ofcross-legs 1 and 2 pivotally connected together by bolts 3 and 4. Thecross-legs comprise upper parts 5, 6, 7 and 8 which are telescopicallyconnected to lower parts 9, 10, 11 and 12 respectively. In theconstruction illustrated, the entire supporting frame is formed oftubular metal, the upper parts 5 and 8 being integral with thelongitudinal supporting bar 13 and the upper parts 6 and 7 beingintegral with the longitudinal supporting bar 14. These longitudinalbars support a flexible bathing tub 15. The legs formed of parts 6 and10 and 7 and 11 will be referred to as the front legs while the legsformed of parts 5 and 9 and 8 and 12 will be referred to as the backlegs. The lower parts 10 and 11 are integral with a lower longitudinalrail 16 which is generally Ushaped to provide clearance for ones feet,and rigidity.

The upper leg portions 5 and 6 and 7 and 8 are freely slidable insidethe lower portions 9 and 10 and 11 and 12 respectively and when removedthe upper leg parts are held in proper spaced position by reason oftheir connection with the longitudinal rails 13 and 14. The lower legparts 9 and 10 and 11 and 12 are also held in proper spaced position byreason of the bolts 3 and 4 and the connection of parts 10 and 11 withthe lower longitudinal rail 16. As best shown in Fig. 4, the upper legparts have longitudinal slots 16 which straddle the pivot bolts 3 and 4when the legs are connected together as shown in the drawings. As bestshown in Fig. 2, the bolts pass through both leg portions and washers 17and 18 which are used to provide increased bearing surface and tofacilitate the pivotal action of the cross-legs. When the legs areconnected together, as shown in the drawings, and the nuts 20 and 21 aretightened the lower leg parts 9 and 10 and 11 and 12 are squeezed intogripping engagement with the upper leg parts 5 and 6 and 7 and 8. Thesebolts accordingly not only provide the axes on which the cross-legs arepivoted but a means for securing the upper and lower parts of the legstogether.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, the bolts 3 and 4advantageously provide means for the pivotal connection of the shelf 22to the cross-legs. This shelf is suspended on sheet metal brackets 23and 24 which are bent over the secure the arms 26 and 27. One

.end 28 and 29 of each arm is inserted in a hole in the end of the shelfand the other end 31 and 32 is bent under the shelf to support theforward end. This mounting of the shelf permits the shelf to be swung tothe position as shown in broken lines in Fig. 3 into substantialparallelism with the cross-legs when they are folded together. When thecross-legs are in their open or operative position, as shown in Figs. 1,3 and 4 for the use of the tub, the shelf assumes a horizontal positionwith the curved parts 33 and 34 of the arms bearing on the front lowerleg parts 10 and 11 respectively and the parts 31 and 32 supporting theforward edge of the shelf.

Fig. 5 illustrates another suitable means of connecting 3 l at: upperlegpart to a lower leg part. The upper leg part 3.5 includes a wooden plug36. A hole is bored through the leg and into the wooden plug into whichis securely mounted a ball-type snap fastener 37. When the legs areconnected together the round end 38enters' a hole 39 in thela'rgerdiameter lower leg part4!) and the two ens are securely held together;The legparts canfib'e separated by. merely pressing the rounded 'end' 38inwardly against the spring 41 and the two parts inay be pulled apart.a,

I claim: rx

An improvediinfants.bathing device having a tubular supporting frameincluding two pairs of cross-legs being pivotallv connected together;theuppr parts of the legs being removable from and telescopicallyconnected to the lower parts of theleg's at a place above the pivotal cmnections, longitudinal rails for supporting a flexible tub connectedtothe upper parts of the legs; said lower parts of the cross leg'shaving two front leg parts and a lower rail integral with and connectingthe two front leg parts together, means for detachably securing theupper and lower parts of the legs together, and means at the pivotconnection for the cross-legs for holding the lower parts of thecross-legs together when the upper parts are removed. 7

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSKennedy Oct. 11, 1949

